Measure sales per labor hour by front and back of house and turn next week's forecast into an hours budget.
Net sales and hourly hours worked for the same dates, a day, a week or a month.
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It measures how productive your schedule was, in sales per labor hour for the whole house and for front and back of house separately, and then turns next week's forecast into an hours budget you can schedule to. Add a wage and it shows what those hours cost as a percent of sales.
Pull net sales from the POS and hourly hours from the time clock for the same period. Leave salaried managers out so the number reflects the schedule.
Compare against the range for your concept and against your own last few weeks. A drop usually means the schedule did not move with a slower week.
Enter next week's forecast and the sales per labor hour you want to hit. The hours budget, split front and back of house, is what the schedule has to fit.
Sales per labor hour equals net sales divided by hourly hours worked. Hours budget equals forecast sales divided by target sales per labor hour. Labor cost from hours equals hours times the average loaded wage.
Example: $58,000 of weekly sales with 520 front of house and 440 back of house hours is $60.42 of sales per labor hour. To run $65 next week on a $60,000 forecast, the schedule can carry about 923 hours, roughly 500 front and 423 back of house. At this week's productivity the same forecast would use about 993 hours, so the schedule has to come down by about 70 hours.
| Concept | Sales per labor hour | All-in labor cost |
|---|---|---|
| Quick service / fast casual | $50 to $90 | 25 to 30 percent |
| Full service restaurant | $45 to $75 | 28 to 35 percent |
| Bar or beverage-led | $60 to $110 | 22 to 30 percent |
| Fine dining / private club | $40 to $65 | 33 to 40 percent |
Ranges vary with wage rates, menu prices and service style. See the benchmarks page for the full set and the scheduling guide for building a schedule from a forecast.
Divide net sales by the total hours worked by hourly staff for the same period. A restaurant with $58,000 of weekly sales and 960 hourly hours runs about $60 of sales per labor hour.
Full service restaurants usually run $45 to $75, quick service $50 to $90, bar-led concepts $60 to $110, and fine dining and clubs $40 to $65. Your own trend by day and by shift matters more than the benchmark.
They answer different questions. Labor cost percentage includes wage rates, so it moves when you give raises or pay overtime. Sales per labor hour only measures how well the schedule matched the business, which makes it the better number for building and judging a schedule.
Usually no. Most operators use hourly hours only, because salaried hours do not change with the schedule. Be consistent, and compare like with like.
Forecast sales for each day, divide by your target sales per labor hour to get the hours the day can afford, then split those hours between front and back of house and across shifts. If Saturday forecasts $14,000 at a $65 target, the day can carry about 215 hourly hours.
Turn the hours budget into a schedule by station and shift with the Labor Forecast and Staffing Guide, and check the dollars with the free labor cost calculator.
Check your labor cost Read the scheduling guideRules of thumb only. Results are estimates and not financial advice.
